"That's a lot of ammo." Said fang.
200 steel balls the size of a fist were stacked on each other in the ammo silo by the end of the next day, and by the next morning, they started building their masterpiece.
Near the base, 50 balls of steel were lined symmetrically next to each other in the 2 meters below the wooden branches and countless leaves that covered the trap door that Fang and isgram built.
The trap door was made of brittle stone that Gaia conjured for them to work with.
Isgram weakened the trap door so much that one heavy step would make someone fall down.
Beneath the steel balls was a layer of explosive powder Fang and isgram made by gathering the charcoal and using one of isgram's spells, {flammable water} that converted water into flammable liquid.
Mixing the liquid with a lot of charcoal from the furnace fang started experimenting with it until he made an easily triggered explosive material.
A metal tube leading back to the base was connected to the trap, around 100 meters away from the base.
The metal tube was hidden in the cave's entrance, allowing isgram a clear sight to the the trap when needed.
The tube was mounted on a small shelf adjusted to Isgram's small stature.
Around the tube were several smaller tubes leading to different smaller traps.
"What did you call it again?" Isgram scratched his cheeks while looking inside the tube.
"This is the claptrap, it is a big manual detonated trap.
"Are you sure it will work?"
"Want to give it a try?" Fang grinned at him.
Isgram grinned back and sat on the metal chair beside the tube station.
"I'm good thank you..."
"Figured." Said Fang smirking to himself.
"Now we need to wait for them and just lead them to the trap?"
"Yeah, pretty much. So far so good."
"Let's try exploding one of the landmines in the forest, what do you say?"
"Good idea isgram." Said Fang and pointed at a young tree around 200 meters away.
Isgram shot a fire arrow into one of the several tubes in the cave.
A landmine with 4 balls under the ground, in a small pit half a meter deep and plenty of explosive powder.
There was a tube leading to the mine too, allowing isgram to shoot it from the the cave in the future and not alert the enemy.
All in all, there were a couple of more mines in the near vicinity of the forest waiting for Isgram's fiery temper.
In a second the fire arrow reached its target and The mine exploded instantly sending the steel balls towards the sky at incredible speed.
The explosion charred the ground in a radius of 3 meters, sending the smell of burnt wood to Fang's nostrils.
"Nice work."
"Thank you, boy, we can imagine What effect it will have on a human..." Isgram deduced.
"You can use 10 balls from now on in those mines. I want it to be even deadlier."
"I'm finally done!" Gaia screamed and wrapped her arms around Isgram's neck, standing behind him.
"Don't you touch me like that, you disgust me." Isgram sighed in frustration
"You're still mad about the minion matter? I told you already, They're my troops. not yours."
"we're on the same team, we can't just do things like that. Even if they're just rocks filled with mana."
"You'll learn it the hard way. They are nothing more than mere tools at the end of the day. Choose to sacrifice others before you sacrifice yourself. That's my logic."
Isgram's eyes were hammers of war, awaiting their next conflict.
"I would abstain from unnecessary sacrifices." Said isgram.
Their gazes met for a split moment before she turned her gaze towards Fang.
"I advise you to keep this little man in check. It sounds as if he cares more about our TOOLS than ourselves."
"At least I don't need an army to fight, I'm stronger than you without summoning anyone."
"Is that right? Would you want to test this little theory?" Gaia said in a theatrical voice.
Isgram's Hand was set ablaze, and Gaia's hand was suddenly enveloped in steel.
"Knock it off."
Fang wielded his katana with one hand and slashed it between them, and the other hand conjured a purple ball.
Isgram backed down first knowing that Fang wouldn't kill him but wouldn't hesitate showing him how badly his disease spell can hurt him.
"Now." And with that, Fang Finished the fight.
Isgram's hands were getting sweaty, and his body pumped with adrenaline.
"I'm going back to the forge. Send me my new instructions with a messenger."
Isgram walked back to the depths of the cave.
"Here, take that for now." She dropped off some more raw steel she conjured.
"Good work Gaia. We will use it well. Deliver it to Isgram's forge."
"Don't thank me, hun, it was your idea and that little man's blueprint. I have to tell you, although you're an annoyance, you're quite the engineer."
Gaia felt like Teasing him when she was bored, and after a long morning of conjuring steel for the traps and meditating in between she needed something to blow some steam.
Isgram was on his way to the forge but he turned around and said loudly from 50 meters deep into the cave.
"You're quite a skilled earth mage. I doubt I could have knocked this up in just a day, and to find that much steel in this cave would be a hassle too as well. You did well." Said Isgram.
"See? You can be nice when you want to." Fang half smiled while he said that. Too bad it didn't last:
"WAIT, What did you say about my height before?!" There were fireballs thrown around in all directions, and metal bullets levitating around Gaia.
"Didn't I just say to stop it..." Fang sat dumbfounded, his hand holding his chin and the other on the leather belt ready to intervene if needed.
After an entire minute of fighting, fang had enough.
'My god, I'm 13 in mind and yet I'm more mature. He's too hot-blooded and she is too blunt and hard-headed.'
"Isgram, do you mind coming here for a second?"
Isgram threw another fireball that hit Gaia's chest but she blocked it with a steel shield in the last moment.
"I'll be back for you later Gaia!
"I want to see you try puny man!"
Grumbling isgram walked back to Fang with a little smirk on his face. All in all, he needed to blow off some steam.
"Now, what did you want?"
"Is my weapon a magic weapon? You mentioned something about it a few days ago."
"Well, according to some books I read in the elves' kingdom, if you can flow mana into your weapon it is considered magical."
"Do you know how to make magic weapons? Or at least how much they cost?"
Isgram smiled goofily.
"To be honest my knowledge about their price comes from a few shouts in the market that I heard. It sounds like it's worth a few thousand coins, but I'm not sure what value those coins have if it's not about drinking and eating."
"What are the food costs in the elvish kingdom?"
"A few coins for a nice breakfast and lunch. They don't eat big dinners like we do, but it's still kinda expensive. I had to steal to get myself money."
Fang thought about something.
"What is it?" Isgram asked trying to decipher Fang's facial expression.
"I think we should send a messenger to talk to the mage squad."
"What?! Are you insane?"
"I want to make a deal with them."
"Don't tell me that the money interests you that much!" Isgram shouted at him.
'I hope that kid won't sell me out here, you better not say something stupid...'
"Don't yell... I meant to make them kill each other. If I promise them my katana they'll try to kill each other to take the loot. You inspected it and said It is a magical weapon."
"I said it might be, I'm not an expert in that but I could sense some small mana traces left in by the forging process."
"how do you plan to buy their trust? They won't do it blindly."
"We will let them come here. We'll fight them off for a bit, hopefully killing them completely. If that doesn't work we'll just shout that the last one of them standing can take it."
Gaia regenerated her mana and joined the conversation.
"While I don't disagree with the plan, I think we should take their heads and hang them in the village afterward. It will be a good lesson."
"I agree," said Isgram.
"then do we have a plan?"
"yes," they said both in sync.
"good. Gaia, we need more steel and your minions for the trap building, please.
Isgram, you will burn more wood and create more explosive liquid. If needed get some of the burnt wood from the forest fire."
"No need, the forest has almost regenerated completely. The life force in this forest is incredible, I have never seen this ok Earth."
"Yeah this is really interesting, I wonder what is the limit to the forest's regeneration abilities.
Anyways, take new trees then, it should be easier to source wood from nearby but make sure to not touch any of our traps on accident. While it won't detonate without a good spark, we don't want to bandage our only fire mage before an attack on the base..."
"And what will you be doing in the meantime fang?" Asked Gaia.
"I'm going to try my newest spell before everything else."
"A new spell you say? What kind of spell?"
Fang leaned his back against the wall and, looked a bit distracted and anxious.
He managed to find the courage to share the Discovery hoping it would be welcomed easily.
Taking a deep breath he said it:
"Resurrection."
Both of them have furrowed their eyebrows, staring him down intently.
They both knew that a necromancer with the ability to Resurrect his enemies could easily form a large army.
'I can command around 10 small golems, and I'm mostly limited by my experience and mana. If he starts creating his minions, the entire power balance will hang on his goodwill. I should stay wary, but he is a very interesting man...' thought Gaia.
On the other hand, isgram worried for other reasons.
'if he keeps developing his necromancer skills at such a rapid pace he will soon reach Gaia and I in terms of raw power.
He indeed seems honest and good-hearted, if you forget how many people he killed in the last two weeks since he got here.
I should keep an eye on him, If he turns insane by his mana nature we will be in deep trouble. The mana he accumulates will keep on changing his personality like it has changed mine.'
The trio exchanged glances, knowing they were going to be attacked either way and that the only way to not only survive but grow is to stick together.
"I figured you'd be tense hearing about it for the first time, but I can assure you I'm not happy about it. Resurrecting corpses to fight for me will be expensive and the amount of mana used will be the indicator of how much power I'll gain from it."
"Never on us fang. Or any ally." Said isgram.
"I too agree on this condition. While we have elemental spells, you can seduce death for your lust after power.
I am not going to stand by if It will be used against any other chosen one, or any ally down the road." Added Gaia with a scary smile.
'Those two can give me the chills, yikes.
I mean I'm not that evil, am I?
Anyways, I never would have thought of disrespecting our allies' departure from this world with that spell.'
"I agree. I never meant to use it on our own people, so rest easy. In your graves."
'he did not...' thought isgram not even completing his sentence as Gaia slapped Fang's cheek with passion.
"Joke about it again and next time it will be with an iron-clad palm." Said Gaia smiling her devilish smile, staring directly into Fang's eyes from below him.
And so, Fang and his team started to prepare for their live trap test...